National report on Juvenile Justice Trends – Portugal

UID/SOC/04647/2013 PEST-OE/SADG/UI4067/2014The aim of this report is to examine current national policies on juvenile justice and alternatives to detention for young offenders in Portugal. It is carried out within the framework of the involvement of the IJJO as a partner in the project ‘Alternatives to Custody for Young Offenders - Developing Intensive and Remand Fostering Programmes’, coordinated by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) and financed by the European Commission, DG Justice, through its Daphne Programme (Grant Agreement JUST/2011/DAP/AG/3054).publishersversionpublishe

Children’s Exposure to Neighbourhood Violence

SADG/UI4067/2014Do children represent the neighbourhoods where they live? This was the starting point of a research focused on the analysis of children’s lives in six public housing neighbourhoods in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Rooted in social ecology theoretical approaches and childhood studies, which recognize children as social actors, the main goal was to achieve a better understanding of children’s socialization processes considering multi-problematic spaces, but focussed mainly on their involvement in violence and delinquency. Between 2005 and 2009, a case study based on ethnographic and child-centred research methods to explore children’s personal accounts of their lives was conducted in the selected neighbourhoods. Findings highlighted that most children complained about living there, referencing how social and spatial segregation, associated to high exposure to violence, affect them. Violence and crime were labelled as the most prominent problems, and children’s exposure to neighbourhood violence seldom occurs only once or just in one form. The data demonstrated how ‘normalization’ of violence perceived by children influenced their use of the neighbourhood’s places, reducing their sense of the seriousness and effects of violent acts. Violence, briefly discussed from the children’s points of view, served to build their skills, structure their present relations with peers and adults, and simultaneously helped and (re) constructed a permanent social dissatisfaction reinforcing neighbourhood’s stigmatization.publishersversionpublishe

do “menor” à “justiça amiga das crianças”

UID/SOC/04647/2013 SFRH/BPD/116119/2016 ?Neste texto promove-se a discussão sobre as origens da justiça juvenil nas sociedades ocidentais destacando-se as transformações ocorridas no sistema português. A análise sobre as relações entre justiça, direitos e instituições que enformam os diplomas legais e as práticas da justiça juvenil em Portugal têm de atender à forma como se evoluiu da representação do ‘menor’ culpado e da criança vítima para a de uma justiça ‘amiga’ das crianças que enquadra, no presente, a intervenção judicial. Nenhum princípio de justiça ancorado no Direito das Crianças e dos Jovens é, por si mesmo, absoluto quando transposto para a prática judiciária pelo que é indispensável compreender a sua evolução conceptual e identificar as mudanças ao longo dos tempos.publishersversionpublishe

two sides of a path to personal and social well-being

PEst-OE/SADG/UI4067/2013 UID/SOC/04647/2013Young offenders’ rehabilitation and education present a set of challenges to contemporary societies that are particularly felt in the juvenile justice system. In this paper we discuss some of these challenges, taking into consideration insights on the daily lives of young offenders who have been placed in Portuguese custodial institutions in recent years. The Portuguese juvenile justice system differs from most of those in other EU countries, giving less importance to the offense than to the need for the offender to be educated in the fundamental community values that have been violated by the illicit act. It can be regarded as a third perspective falling in between a welfare model and a punitive or penal one. The set of educational measures applied to youth by courts aims to socialise and educate offenders on values protected by penal law, in a process called education in the law. One of the main goals of custody is rehabilitation, which, from an educational point of view, could mean empowering youth with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their potential to engage in society in a responsible way. But responsibility and autonomy are not static concepts; these notions are (re)constructed by youth in the social contexts in which they live. Working towards a more effective system requires the promotion of youth’s social participation through which personal and social well-being can be achieved. Institutional work requires community engagement in supporting youth and should be focused on a positive and holistic approach towards offenders, recognising their needs and strengths.publishersversionpublishe

Youth Justice, ‘Education in the Law’ and the (In)Visibility of Digital Citizenship

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020publishersversionpublishe

o Olhar das Crianças

UID/SOC/04647/2013authorsversionpublishe

Young Offenders’ Insights into their Experiences in Accessing TV and Press News in a Liberty-Depriving Context

PEST-OE/SADG/UI4067/2014This paper seeks to give voice to young offenders placed in custodial institutions in Portugal, aiming to discuss their insights into their experiences in accessing TV and press news in a liberty-depriving context, and how through their choices they (re)view their own life trajectories and attitudes towards the institution and the juvenile justice system. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the study focused on a population that tends to gain the media’s attention, but their own interpretation of social matters has rarely been heard. Through informed consent, a random sample was collected involving 150 participants, of both sexes, between 12 and 21 years of age. The findings pointed up how news contents were mainly understood as essential windows to the world: for many participants, reading or watching news was a process sustained by the need for maintaining contact with their communities and the world outside custody. Not only was their experience in the juvenile system clearly reflected in their discussion about the news, they also strengthened the relation of some news content with their attitude towards their families, peers and institutions. The results reveal they were particularly interested in news on two issues - children in danger and crime -, and through the analysis young offenders made of their choices, they (re)viewed their life trajectories and projected into an aftercare future.authorsversionpublishe

Usos e Ilícitos Recenseados na Justiça Juvenil em Portugal

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020Na atualidade, o forte envolvimento dos jovens em redes sociais suscita o questionamento sobre potenciais efeitos multiplicadores de riscos e oportunidades para práticas de delinquência. Nem sempre é simples distinguir uma ação online inofensiva, parte integrante da experimentação social/relacional típica da adolescência, de um facto que passa a constituir um ilícito passível de intervenção judicial. Este artigo procura conhecer e discutir como o uso de redes sociais se materializa nos factos qualificados pela lei penal como crime praticados por jovens, entre os 12 e os 16 anos, no quadro da justiça juvenil em Portugal. Recorre-se à análise exploratória de informação qualitativa recolhida em Tribunal de Família e Menores, nos processos tutelares educativos de 201 jovens, de ambos os sexos. Pouco mais de terço da população viu provado o envolvimento em ilícitos com recurso a redes sociais, em três níveis diferenciados: planeamento/organização, execução e disseminação. A participação múltipla em redes sociais é dominante. É significativa a sobrerrepresentação das raparigas enquanto autoras de ilícitos, especialmente com elevado grau de violência, num continuum online-offline. A maioria dos factos analisados, de ambos os sexos, tem no epicentro, a perceção de que a honra pessoal foi atingida e requer reparação. Daí ao ato violento é um passo curto, o que pode levar à reconfiguração e troca de papéis entre vítima e agressor, nem sempre fácil de provar. Para ambos os sexos, as relações criadas a partir da escola dominam a interação entre agressores-vítimas. Mais do que o anonimato que o digital pode proporcionar, transparece a necessidade de afirmação no espaço público e/ou semiprivado, constituindo a ação violenta o catalisador para ganhar respeito pela imediata gratificação, que as redes sociais oferecem, num continuum online-offline que dá corpo à “onlife” (Floridi, 2017) que caracteriza a vida dos jovens no presente. Currently, the strong involvement of young people in social media raises questions about potential multiplier effects on risks and opportunities for delinquent practices. It is not always easy to distinguish a harmless online action, an integral part of the social and relational expe-rimentation typical of adolescence, from a fact that will constitute an unlawful act subject to judicial intervention. This article seeks to understand and discuss how the use of social media is materialized in the facts, defined as a crime by the criminal law, perpetrated by young people aged between 12 and 16, in the context of youth justice in Portugal. It is based on an exploratory analysis of qualitative information collected in a Family and Children Court from youth justice proceedings concerning 201 young people of both sexes. Just under a third of this population was proven to have been involved in unlawful acts using social media at three levels: planning/organization, execution and dissemination. Multiple participation in social media is dominant. There is a significant overrepresentation of girls as perpetrators of unlawful acts, especially those involving a high degree of violence, embodying the online-offline continuum. Most of the analy-sed facts of both sexes have at their epicentre the perception that personal honour has been attacked and requires reparation. From there, it is a short step to violence, which can lead to a reconfiguration and exchange of roles between victim and aggressor, which is not always easy to prove. For both sexes, the relationships established in school dominate the interaction between aggressors-victims. More than the anonymity afforded by the digital, what stands out is the need for affirmation in public and/or semi-private space, and violent action is the catalyst to gain respect through the instant gratification offered by social media in an online-offline continuum embodying the “onlife” (Floridi, 2017) that characterizes the lives of young people today.publishersversionpublishersversionpublishe

Delinquência Juvenil

UID/SOC/04647/2013publishersversionpublishe

Dinâmicas, Riscos e Desafios

UID/SOC/04647/2013 SFRH/BPD/116119/2016A delinquência é um problema social complexo; um fenómeno multidimensional que tem na origem processos e dinâmicas sociais, fatores de natureza individual e circunstâncias pessoais e coletivas interdependentes que produzem realidades sociais dinâmicas e de difícil controlo. O interesse do seu estudo reside primordialmente no facto de resultar da interação social, de ocorrências que são fruto da vida social e que não só traduzem maneiras de pensar, agir e sentir, como também refletem um poder, coercivo, aparentemente exterior aos indivíduos, que ganha corpo em determinadas formas de organização social. Enquanto problema socialmente construído por referência a normas, valores, quadros socioculturais e jurídicos de uma sociedade, a delinquência reporta-se aos atos de violação desses quadros praticados por indivíduos que, em função da idade, se encontram na condição de inimputáveis perante a lei penal ficando, por isso, abrangidos por legislação específica de proteção à infância e juventude.authorsversionpublishe